The response by the online community was lukewarm yesterday as China celebrated grand achievements in both space and beneath the sea on the same day, with bitter web users using microblog accounts to criticise the government for favouring technological advancements over improving people's lives.
Beijing-based political analyst Hu Xingdou said the two achievements were obviously synchronised, with the missions timed to occur in the lead-up to this autumn's National People's Congress and the 91st anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.
'We are able to send Chinese to outer space, yet we do not allow our peasants to live in cities with equal rights and access to public services; it's ironic,' Hu said. 'Without first solving China's deep-seated institutional problems, it will be just like the former USSR, which put the first man in space, but ended up seeing its own red flag fall to the ground.
'China should be able to explore space and dive deep into the ocean, but mostly it should prioritise efforts in political reform.'
That sentiment was widely seen online, with some people noting that the technological achievements came decades after they were accomplished by the United States. Others, however, still praised the efforts.
One with the user name Yanyuhmily said China had made history by diving to 7,020 metres and completing the manual docking of a spacecraft to an orbiting lab module, both on the same day.